9m Brits were the victim of cybercrime in the last year

Cybercrime has hit more than 9 million adults in Britain in the last year, according to a survey by researchers at the University of Kent.

The researchers were able to nail down some cash statistics, too. More than 8 per cent of the UK population lost money to cyber baddies in the last year, and 2.3 per cent lost more than £10,000, the Guardian reports.

But it wasn't just money the crooks were after. 18.3 per cent of those questioned had experienced attempted break-ins for one or more of their online accounts, including email, banking, gaming, and social media. A third had suffered repeated attempts.

Older people were least likely to be victims, according to the study. Only 11.4 per cent of those aged 55-64 were successfully targeted. Whether that's because silver surfers are more security-conscious, or share less online, who's to say. In comparison, 27.3 per cent of 18-24 year-olds have had their accounts compromised.

Most of these hacks had no financial repercussions, with 92 per cent of the 1,500 respondents saying they'd lost no money. 3.2 per cent were stung for between £1 and £100, 2.4 per cent between £101 and £10,000, and 2.3 per cent more than £10,000. This last figure was "quite shocking" to the researchers.

"It seems online crime has a clear impact on the lives of average UK citizens, with their accounts and credentials being compromised significantly and in some cases multiple times," the University of Kent's Interdisciplinary Centre for Cyber Security Research said in a statement.

"Cybercrime may not yet have hit a large proportion of the British public, but successful attacks do tend to lead to substantive financial damage."

So there you have it -- increasingly it's us average Joe's who are being targeted by criminals online. Have you ever been the victim of cybercrime? Do you think we're sharing too much data online? Let me know in the comments, or on our Facebook page.